Electrical connector and circuit card assembly

ABSTRACT

Described is an electrical connector assembly with an electrical connector having a connector body that includes a receptacle connector portion at a first end and a plug connector portion at a second end opposite the first end. The receptacle connector portion has electrical contacts within an opening for mating with a plug electrical connector at the first end of the connector body. The plug connector portion has electrical contacts within an opening for mating with a receptacle electrical connector at the second end. The connector body has an electrical conductor that is in electrical communication with at least one of the electrical contacts and extends from one side of the connector body. A circuit card is disposed adjacent to that one side of the connector body and is in electrical communication with the at least one electrical contact through the electrical conductor extending from the side of the connector body.

RELATED APPLICATION

This utility application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/863,905, filed on Nov. 1, 2006, the entirety of whichis incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronics enclosures andelectrical connector assemblies. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to an electrical connector assembly for electricallyand physically coupling disk drives to a midplane within a disk arrayenclosure.

BACKGROUND

Some disk array enclosures use hard disk drives that require 12 volts DConly, and the midplane (or backplane) to which such disk drives areelectrically connected provides the requisite voltage (i.e., 12 voltsonly). Additionally, some disk array enclosures use hard disk driveswith customized features that enhance their suitability within aproduct. These features include, but are not limited to, on/off control,soft-start control, current-limit protection, and logic signalconditioning. To reduce the cost of disk array enclosures, one trend isto use commodity (i.e., off-the-shelf) disk drives. Commodity diskdrives, however, can require more than a single voltage level, such as12 volts DC and 5 volts DC. These disk drives may also lack theprerequisite enhanced features needed to make them suitable in aparticular application or product. To use such commodity disk drives inthese disk array enclosures therefore requires means, external to thedisk drive, for converting the 12 volts supplied by the midplane intoeach required voltage level, for producing certain system functionality(e.g., the enhanced features), or both.

To perform this voltage conversion (and various system functionality,such as previously described), an external, small circuit card (alsocalled a paddle card or an adapter board) is disposed between themidplane and the disk drive. This circuit card includes electricalsignal paths and circuitry, e.g., for delivering a 5-volt and 12-voltsupply to the disk drive based on the 12-volt supply provided by themidplane, for passing through the 12 volts from the midplane to meet the12-volts requirements of the disk drive, and for providing the variousenhanced functionality.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the invention features an electrical connector assemblyan electrical connector having a connector body with a receptacleconnector portion at a first end and a plug connector portion at asecond end opposite the first end. The receptacle connector portion haselectrical contacts within an opening for mating with a plug electricalconnector at the first end of the connector body. The plug connectorportion has electrical contacts within an opening for mating with areceptacle electrical connector at the second end of the connector body.The connector body has an electrical conductor that is in electricalcommunication with at least one of the electrical contacts and extendsfrom one side of the connector body. A circuit card is disposed adjacentto that one side of the connector body and is in electricalcommunication with the at least one electrical contact through theelectrical conductor extending from the side of the connector body.

In another aspect, the invention features an electronics enclosurecomprising a disk drive assembly having a disk drive and a disk driveconnector extending from one end of the disk drive. A midplane has amidplane connector extending from one side thereof. An electricalconnector assembly electrically couples the disk drive assembly to themidplane. The electrical connector assembly includes an electricalconnector having a connector body with a receptacle connector portion ata first end and a plug connector portion at a second end opposite thefirst end. The receptacle connector portion has electrical contactswithin an opening for mating with a plug electrical connector at thefirst end of the connector body. The plug connector portion haselectrical contacts within an opening for mating with a receptacleelectrical connector at the second end of the connector body.

The connector body has an electrical conductor that is in electricalcommunication with at least one of the electrical contacts and extendsfrom one side of the connector body. A circuit card is disposed adjacentto that one side of the connector body and is in electricalcommunication with the at least one electrical contact through theelectrical conductor extending from the side of the connector body.

In another aspect, the invention features an electrical connectorassembly having an electrical connector body with a first electricalconnector at a first end and with a second electrical connector at asecond end opposite the first end. Each electrical connector has aplurality of electrical contacts. The electrical connector body has anelectrical conductor that is in electrical communication with at leastone of the electrical contacts and extends from one side of theconnector body. A circuit card is disposed adjacent to that one side ofthe connector body and is in electrical communication with the at leastone electrical contact through the electrical conductor extending fromthe side of the connector body. The electrical connector assembly hasmeans for holding the circuit card adjacent to the connector body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages of this invention may be betterunderstood by referring to the following description in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate likestructural elements and features in the various figures. The drawingsare not meant to limit the scope of the invention. For clarity, notevery element may be labeled in every figure. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of a disk drive assembly includingan embodiment of an electrical connector assembly constructed inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronics enclosurehaving a midplane coupled to a plurality of disk drives throughelectrical connector assemblies of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment of the electrical connectorassembly of FIG. 1 used to couple a midplane to a disk drive, theelectrical connector including a circuit card.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment of a plug connector portion of theelectrical connector assembly of FIG. 3, having a connector body withelectrical contacts and an arm on each side thereof.

FIG. 5A is a back view of an embodiment of a receptacle connectorportion of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5B is a disk-side view of the receptacle connector portion of FIG.5A.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a plug connector portion together with thereceptacle connector portion of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an embodiment of a cardholder portion of theelectrical connector assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of another embodiment of a cardholder portion of theelectrical connector assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an embodiment of the cardholder body havingelectrical traces that extend between a receptacle member of thereceptacle connector portion and a plug member of the plug connectorportion.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment of the electrical connectorassembly with an empty cardholder.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of the electrical connector assembly with a circuitcard held by the holding means of the cardholder.

FIG. 12 is a bottom view diagram of the electrical connector assembly.

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the electrical connector assembly withoutthe circuit card to show electrically conductive pins projecting throughthe side of the connector body.

FIG. 14 is a disk-drive-side view of the electrical connector assembly,with the circuit card.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of examples of various types of electrical signalpaths in an embodiment of the electrical connector assembly of theinvention.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are, respectively, exemplary pin descriptions (i.e.,“pin outs”) of the plug and receptacle connector portions of anembodiment of the electrical connector assembly of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electrical connector assemblies of the present invention have aconnector body with back-to-back first and second electrical connectorportions. Extending from one side of the connector body are electricallyconductive pins. A circuit board disposed adjacent to this side of theconnector body couples to these electrical conductors and is thereby inelectrical communication with the first and second electrical connectorportions. In some embodiments, the electrical connector assemblyincludes a cardholder for holding the circuit card adjacent to the oneside of the connector body.

Various types of electrical signal paths pass through the connectorbody. Some electrical signal paths pass directly through from the firstelectrical connector portion to the second electrical connector portion.Other electrical signal paths pass from the connector body to thecircuit card, where such signal paths may terminate or propagate andreturn to connector body. For those signal paths passing through thecircuit card, the circuit card has circuitry for responding to oroperating upon the signals carried by the paths, e.g., to provideenhanced functionality or to perform signal conversions, such asconverting a 12-volt power supply signal into a 5-volt power supplysignal.

One exemplary use for the electrical connector assembly is to connect adisk drive to a midplane or backplane of a disk array enclosure. Thefirst connector portion of the electrical connector assembly connects toan electrical connector of the disk drive and the second connectorportion of the electrical connector assembly connects to an electricalconnector on the midplane.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a disk drive assembly 10 constructed inaccordance with the invention. The disk drive assembly 10 includes adisk drive 14 with a disk drive connector 18 that physically andelectrically connects to an embodiment of an electrical connectorassembly 26 constructed in accordance with the invention. Opposite sidesof the disk drive 14 are coupled to opposing carrier rails 22-1, 22-2(generally, 22). Types of disk drives with which the electricalconnector assembly 26 may be used include, but are not limited to, FibreChannel and Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) drives. In oneembodiment, the disk drive 14 is of a type that requires 5 volts and 12volts for proper operation. In another embodiment, the disk drive 14 isof a type needing only 12 volts.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronicsenclosure 30 (here, e.g., a disk array enclosure) within which theelectrical connector assembly 26 of the present invention may beembodied. The electronics enclosure 30 includes disk drive assemblies10-1, 10-n (generally, 10), a midplane 32, redundant (e.g., link)control cards 34-1, 34-2 (generally, 34), and redundant power supplies36-1, 36-2 (generally 36). The midplane 32 includes disk-drive-sideconnectors 38 and supply-side connectors 40. Each control card 34 andeach power supply 36 has a connector 42 for mating with a correspondingsupply-side connector 40. Each disk drive assembly 10-1, 10-n includes arespective disk drive 14-1, 14-n with a disk drive connector 18. Anelectrical connector assembly 26 of the invention electrically andphysically couples the disk drive connector 18 with a disk-drive-sideconnector 38 of the midplane 32.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the electrical connector assembly 26 indetail. The electrical connector assembly 26 includes a plug connectorportion 50, a receptacle connector portion 54, and a cardholder portion58 extending approximately midway from each side of the receptacleconnector portion 54. The plug connector portion 50 and receptacleconnector portion 54 make up a unitary connector body 56 (e.g.,injection-molded plastic). The connector body 56 may also be integrallyformed as a single unit with the cardholder portion 58. In addition, thewidth of the electrical connector assembly 26, determined by the span ofthe cardholder portion 58, may be designed to fit into a 2.5″ or a 3.5″disk drive slot.

In one embodiment, the plug and receptacle connector portions 50, 54conform to SCA-2 industry standards for SCA connectors. In general,SCA-2 standards, e.g., SFF (Small Form Factor) Committee standardSFF-8045 for 40-pin SCA-2 Connector w/ Parallel Selection, SFF-8451 for40- and 80-pin SCA connectors, and draft standard SFF-8053i for 20-pinSCA connectors, specify the size, length, width, height, board mounting,pin location, and specific mating features. Other embodiments of theplug and receptacle connector portions 50, 54 include, but are notlimited to, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) connectors and Serial AdvancedTechnology Attachment (SATA) connectors. The housing of the plug andreceptacle connector portions 50, 54 can be made of plastic.

In one embodiment, the cardholder portion 58 holds a circuit card 62adjacent to one side of the connector body 56. Electrically conductivepins (not shown) emerge from the side of the connector body 56 and enterthrough-holes in the circuit card 62, to couple the circuit card 62electrically to the plug and receptacle connector portions 50, 54.Soldering may be used to join the electrically conductive pins to thecircuit card 62. Although only one circuit card is shown in FIG. 3, itis to be understood that multiple electrically interconnected circuitcards may be stacked together and coupled to the connector body.

Exemplary implementations of the circuit card 62 include, but are notlimited to, a printed circuit board (PCB) and a flex circuit. Ingeneral, the circuit card 62 includes circuitry for achievingspecial-purpose functionality. To achieve this functionality, thecircuitry can include a variety of components, e.g., active and passivedevices, integrated circuit chips or devices, and light-emitting diodes.These components can be disposed on either or both sides of the circuitcard 62. On the side of the circuit board 62 facing the connector body56, the circuit card 62 can have mechanical standoffs that come againstand may couple to the connector body 56. In addition to providingstructural support, such standoffs ensure a certain amount of spacingbetween components on that side of the circuit card 62 and the connectorbody 56. The spacing may be useful in allowing cooling air to flow overthe devices on the circuit card 62.

In one embodiment, the circuitry of the circuit card 62 converts a12-volts supply signal into a 5-volts supply. In other embodiments, thecircuitry of the circuit card 62 provides certain disk drivefunctionality, e.g., on/off control, soft-start control, current-limitprotection, logic signal conditioning, or combinations thereof. Thecircuitry can achieve other types of functionality without departingfrom the principles of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the plug connector portion 50 of theelectrical connector assembly 26. The plug connector portion 50 has aconnector body portion 70 with a plug opening 72 and an arm 78-1, 78-2on each side thereof. Within the plug opening 72 is a plug member 74comprised of electrical contacts 76.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show an embodiment of the receptacle connectorportion 54 having a connector body portion 100 with a receptacle member104 comprised of electrical contacts (not visible). The connector body100 portion has electrically conductive pins 106 passing therethroughand lateral grooves 108-1, 108-2 (generally, 108) on opposite sidesthereof, from which the cardholder portion 58 laterally extends. Thesegrooves 108 are representative of the general location of where thecardholder portion 58 meets the connector portion 54. Such grooves neednot exist for an integrally formed electrical connector assembly 26, asmentioned previously. Near each groove 108 is electrical ground contact(only contact 112-2 is visible), which electrically communicates withelectrical ground in the plug connector portion 50 and electrical groundon the circuit card 62. The ground contacts 112 extend into opposingconnector arms 114-1, 114-2. As shown in FIG. 5B, the receptacle member104 has a cavity with upper and lower rows of electrical contacts 110for receiving therebetween an edge of a plug electrical connector.

FIG. 6 shows the connector body 56 with the plug connector portion 50and the receptacle connector portion 54 together, as an embodiment ofthe connector body 56 if constructed separately from the cardholderportion 58. The dashed line 57 represents an approximate delineationbetween the connector portions 50, 54, there being no actual delineationin an integrally formed connector body 56. Electrically conductive pins106, 106′ (generally 106) within the connector body 56 extend betweenthe plug connector portion 50 and the receptacle connector portion 54.Some of the pins 106 pass straight through (i.e. continuously) and otherpins 106′ bend generally perpendicular from the plane of the connectorbody 56 and emerge from the side 59 of the connector body 56. Those pinsshown are merely illustrative. The connector body 56 can have more orfewer of each type of pin, and in different locations, than those shown.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the cardholder portion 58 having acardholder body 120 with four cardholding posts 124-1, 124-2, 124-3,124-4 (generally, 124) extending perpendicularly from the same side ofthe cardholder portion 58. Each post 124 has a notch 128 for receivingan edge of the circuit card 62 (here, two posts for each opposite edgeof the circuit card 62). The posts 124 hold the circuit card 62 parallelto the cardholder body 120. To insert a circuit card 62 into the notches128 of the cardholder portion 58, the circuit card 62 is urged againstthe sloped surfaces of the four posts 124, with the appropriatethrough-holes of the circuit card 62 in alignment with the pinsextending from the side of the connector body 56. The posts 124 areflexible and bend outwardly to allow the circuit card 62 to snap intoplace within the notches 128, the posts 124 then returning to theiroriginal position.

Another embodiment of a cardholder 58′ includes sidewalls (140-1, 140-2)with cardholding grooves (144-1, 144-2) formed therein, as shown in FIG.8. Still other embodiments of electrical connector assemblies lack suchcardholders: that is, the circuit card 62 can be held against andsecured to the side of the connector body 56 by other types of holdingmeans (e.g., screws, bolts, adhesives, soldering), without departingfrom the principles of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a cardholder body 120′ (here shown withoutany posts 124). A central portion 147 of the cardholder body 120′ may beimplemented as a multi-layer printed circuit board. Conductiveelectrical traces 148, 149 run along a surface of the central portion147 of the cardholder body 120′ between the plug member 74 and thereceptacle member 104 (the connector body 56 that encapsulates theelectrical traces being absent in order to facilitate the illustration).Some of the electrical traces 148 extend continuously from an electricalcontact 76 at the plug member 74 to an electrical contact 110 at thereceptacle member 104. Such electrical traces are examples of “passthrough” electrical signal paths.

Other electrical traces 149 are discontinuous, i.e., there is a gap inthe electrical trace between an electrical contact 76 at the plug member74 and an electrical contact 110 at the receptacle member 104. Insteadof being direct pass-through electrical signal paths, these electricaltraces 149 provide electrical signal paths that pass to the circuit card62 (not shown) by way of electrically conductive pins. Such electricalsignal paths may terminate at the circuit card 62 or return to anelectrical trace 149 (e.g., on the other side of the gap).

In another embodiment, the connector body 56 encapsulates electricallyconductive pins that provide the electrical signal paths between theelectrical contacts of the plug member 74 and receptacle member 104(i.e., straight-through pins) and between the electrical contacts ofeither member 74, 104 and the circuit card 62 (i.e., pins that bendapproximately perpendicularly from the plane of the connector body andproject from the side thereof).

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the electrical connector assembly 26(without the circuit card 62), constructed in accordance with theinvention. The posts 124 of the cardholder portion 58 are merelyillustrative of a means for holding the circuit card 62. FIG. 11 showsthe electrical connector assembly 26 with the circuit card 62 being heldby the posts 124 of the cardholder portion 58. Also shown is the diskdrive connector 18 physically and electrically coupled to the receptacleconnector portion 54 of the electrical connector assembly 26.

FIG. 12 shows a bottom view of the electrical connector assembly 26 withthe circuit card 62. The bottom view shows a pair of LEDs 151 that canbe in communication with the circuitry on the circuit card 62. FIG. 13shows a bottom view of the electrical connector assembly 26 without thecircuit card 62. Electrically conductive pins 106 project from the sideof the connector body 56 adjacent to the circuit card 62. FIG. 14 showsa disk-drive-side view of the electrical connector assembly 26, in whichare visible the cardholder portion 58, circuit card 62, receptacleconnector portion 54, and pins 106 that electrically coupling thecircuit card 62 to the connector body 56.

FIG. 15 shows examples of various types of electrical signal paths inone embodiment of the electrical connector assembly 26. Some electricalsignal paths go straight through the connector body 56, as exemplifiedby electrical signal path 150 (i.e., directly through the connectorportions 50, 54, from the midplane connector 38 of FIG. 2 to the diskdrive connector 18).

Other electrical signal paths pass between an electrical contact 76 ofthe plug member 74 and an electrical contact 110 of the receptaclemember 104 through the circuit card 62 (as typified by the electricalsignal path 154). Circuitry 152 on the circuit card 62 can receive andoperate upon electrical signals traversing this signal path 154 (e.g.,to convert a 12-volt voltage supply signal from the midplane 32 into a5-volt supply signal for the disk drive 14).

Some of the electrical paths can terminate at the circuit card 62 andprovide “test” nodes at which a signal probe from external electronicequipment can analyze the signals passing therethrough. For example, anelectrical signal path 156 passes through from the receptacle member 104of the receptacle connector portion 54 and has a tap 157 (i.e., anelectrical conductor) that extends perpendicularly therefrom andterminates at the circuit card 62. As another example, an electricalsignal path 158 includes an electrical conductor that extends from theplug member 74 of the plug connector portion 50, bends approximatelyperpendicularly therefrom, and terminates at the circuit card 62.Electrical signal path 160 exemplifies yet another type of signal paththat terminates at the circuit card 62, this path originating from anelectrical contact of the receptacle member 104.

FIGS. 16A and 16B show, respectively, exemplary pin descriptions (i.e.,“pin outs”) of the receptacle and plug connector portions 54, 50 of theelectrical connector assembly 26. Numbers for representative pinlocations appear in the corners of the connector portions. Table 1associates each pin location with a number and a signal name.

TABLE 1 Pin Number Signal Name Comments 1 −EN Bypass Port 1 OutputDriven High When Port 1 is Operating Correctly 2 +12 Vout/+12 vin +12 vout on receptacle (drive end)/ +12 v on plug (midplane end) 3 +12Vout/+12 vin +12 v out on receptacle (drive end)/ +12 v on plug(midplane end) 4 +12 Vout/+12 vin +12 v out on receptacle (drive end)/+12 v on plug (midplane end) 5 −Parallel ESI Input to allow ESIoperation using the SELx pins 6 GND 7 ACTLED Output to drive theactivity LED cathode 8 Reserved 9 Start1 Input to control spin-upbehavior 10 Start2 Input to control spin-up behavior 11 −EN Bypass Port2 Output driven high when port 2 is operating correctly 12 SEL6 DeviceID bit 6/ESI write clock 13 SEL5 Device ID bit 5/ESI read clock 14 SEL4Device ID bit 4/ESI acknowledge clock 15 SEL3 Device ID bit 3/ESI bit 316 FLTLED Output to drive the fault LED cathode 17 DEVCTRL2 Input tocontrol interface speed 18 DEVCTRL1 Input to control interface speed 19+5 V Drive side only 20 +5 V Drive side only 21 +12 Vout/+12 vin +12 vout on receptacle (drive end)/ +12 v on plug (midplane end) 22 GND 23GND 24 +IN1 Fibre Channel Input 25 −IN1 Fibre Channel Input 26 GND 27+IN2 Fibre Channel Input 28 −IN2 Fibre Channel Input 29 GND 30 +OUT1Fibre Channel Output 31 −OUT1 Fibre Channel Output 32 GND 33 +OUT2 FibreChannel Output 34 −OUT2 Fibre Channel Output 35 GND 36 SEL2 Device IDbit 2/ESI bit 2 37 SEL1 Device ID bit 1/ESI bit 1 38 SEL0 Device ID bit0/ESI bit 0 39 DEVCTRL0 Input to control interface speed 40 +5 V Driveside only

In this exemplary embodiment, the signal names are associated with FibreChannel signals. At each numbered pin location is a symbol (O, X, T, *,or D) indicating the type of electrical signal path with which that pin(i.e., electrical contact) is coupled. Pin locations marked with an “X”or with an asterisk (*) are coupled to electrical paths that passdirectly (i.e., straight) through the connector portions 50, 54, asexemplified by electrical signal path 150 in FIG. 15. Those locationsmarked with an asterisk signify high-speed pass through paths.

Pin locations identified by an “O” are “interrupted” electrical pathsthat pass between the connector portions 50, 54 through circuitry 152 ofthe circuit card 62, as exemplified by electrical signal path 154 inFIG. 15. Pin locations marked with a “T” pass to the circuit card 62(and can “tap” at the circuit card 62) for purposes of providing testnodes, as exemplified by electrical signal path 156 in FIG. 15. Some ofthe pin locations designated with a “T” (reference numeral 165) mayinstead be pulled up to an internal +5 v level (i.e., within theconnector assembly) using a pull-up resistor (e.g., 10K). A pin locationwith a D designation indicates that the pin is open (i.e.,disconnected); those with an N designation indicates that the pin is a“no connect”.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tospecific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the following claims. For example, other embodiments of electricalconnector assemblies constructed in accordance with the invention canhave two plug connector portions at opposite ends of the connector body,instead of a plug connector portion and a receptacle connector portion.Alternatively, the connector body can be comprised of two receptacleconnector portions. As other examples, the circuit card can be disposedadjacent to the other side of the connector body, or circuit cards canbe disposed adjacent both sides of the connector body (which, in thisembodiment, has electrically conductive pins emerging from both sidesthereof).

Further, although described herein with reference to disk arrayenclosures, electrical connector assemblies of the invention can findapplication within other types of electronics enclosures, i.e., whereveran external adapter board or circuitry is employed to provide aninterface to an electronics assembly, e.g., to enhance its functionalityor to perform signal conversions.

1. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an electrical connectorbody with a first electrical connector at a first end, with a secondelectrical connector at a second end opposite the first end, and a sidesurface extending from the receptacle connector portion first electricalconnector at the first end to the plug receptacle portion secondelectrical connector at the second end, each electrical connector havinga plurality of electrical contacts, the electrical connector body havingan electrical conductor that is in electrical communication with atleast one of the electrical contacts and extends from the side surfaceof the connector body; a circuit card having a surface disposed adjacentto and facing the side surface of the connector body, the surface of thecircuit card having an electrical conductor that is in electricalcommunication with the electrical conductor extending from the sidesurface of the connector body; and means for holding the circuit cardadjacent to the connector body.
 2. The electrical connector assembly ofclaim 1, wherein each of the electrical connectors of the connector bodyis a plug electrical connector.
 3. The electrical connector assembly ofclaim 1, wherein each of the electrical connectors of the connector bodyis a receptacle electrical connector.
 4. An electrical connectorassembly comprising: an electrical connector having a connector bodywith a receptacle connector portion at a first end of the connectorbody, a plug connector portion at a second end of the connector bodyopposite the first end, and a side surface extending from the receptacleconnector portion at the first end to the plug receptacle connectorportion at the second end, the receptacle connector portion havingelectrical contacts within an opening for mating with a plug electricalconnector at the first end of the connector body, and the plug connectorportion having electrical contacts within an opening for mating with areceptacle electrical connector at the second end of the connector body,the connector body having an electrical conductor that is in electricalcommunication with at least one of the electrical contacts and extendsfrom the side surface of the connector body; and a circuit cardphysically coupled to the connector body, the circuit board card havinga surface disposed adjacent to and facing the side surface of theconnector body, the surface of the circuit card having an electricalconductor that is in electrical communication with the electricalconductor extending from the side surface of the connector body, toprovide thereby an electrical path from the circuit card to the at leastone electrical contact.
 5. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4,wherein one of the electrical contacts of the electrical connector is inelectrical communication with the circuit card over an electrical signalpath that includes the electrical conductor and terminates at thecircuit card.
 6. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4, whereinthe circuit card includes circuitry that provides logic signalconditioning.
 7. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4, whereinthe circuit card is a flex circuit.
 8. The electrical connector assemblyof claim 4, wherein the plug and receptacle connector portions of theelectrical connector are SCA-2 standard compliant SCA (single connectorattachment) connectors.
 9. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4,wherein one of the electrical contacts of the plug connector portion isin electrical communication with one of the electrical contacts of thereceptacle connector portion over an electrical signal path thatincludes the electrical conductor and passes through the circuit card.10. The electrical connector assembly of claim 9, wherein the electricalsignal path carries a 12-volt power supply signal and the circuit cardincludes circuitry for converting the 12-volt power supply signal into a5-volt power supply signal.
 11. The electrical connector assembly ofclaim 4, wherein one of the connector portions of the electricalconnector is configured to mate electrically and physically with anelectrical connector of a disk drive.
 12. The electrical connectorassembly of claim 11, wherein the circuit card includes circuitry thatprovides on-off control functionality for the disk drive.
 13. Theelectrical connector assembly of claim 11, wherein the circuit cardincludes circuitry that provides soft-start control for the disk drive.14. The electrical connector assembly of claim 11, wherein the circuitcard includes circuitry that provides current-limit protection for thedisk drive.
 15. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4, furthercomprising means for holding the circuit board card adjacent to the oneside of the connector body.
 16. The electrical connector assembly ofclaim 15, wherein the means for holding includes a holder body extendingfrom the connector body and posts extending perpendicularly from oneside of the holder body, each post having a notch for holding an edge ofthe circuit card.
 17. The electrical connector assembly of claim 16,wherein the means for holding, the plug connector portion, and thereceptacle connector portion are an integrally formed component.
 18. Anelectronics enclosure comprising: a disk drive assembly having a diskdrive and a disk drive connector extending from one end of the diskdrive; a midplane having a midplane connector extending from one sidethereof; and an electrical connector assembly electrically coupling thedisk drive assembly to the midplane, the electrical connector assemblycomprising: an electrical connector having a connector body with areceptacle connector portion at a first end of the connector body, aplug connector portion at a second end of the connector body oppositethe first end, and a side surface extending from the receptacleconnector portion at the first end to the plug receptacle connectorportion at the second end, the receptacle connector portion havingelectrical contacts within an opening for mating with a plug electricalconnector at the first end of the connector body, and the plug connectorportion having electrical contacts within an opening for mating with areceptacle electrical connector at the second end of the connector body,the connector body having an electrical conductor that is in electricalcommunication with at least one of the electrical contacts and extendsfrom the side surface of the connector body; and a circuit cardphysically coupled to the connector body, the circuit board card havinga surface disposed adjacent to and facing the side surface of theconnector body, the surface of the circuit card having an electricalconductor that is in electrical communication with the electricalconductor extending from the side surface of the connector body, toprovide thereby an electrical path from the circuit card to the at leastone electrical contact.
 19. The electronics enclosure of claim 18,wherein the circuit card includes circuitry that provides on-off controlfunctionality for the disk drive.
 20. The electronics enclosure of claim18, wherein the circuit card includes circuitry that provides soft-startcontrol for the disk drive.
 21. The electronics enclosure of claim 18,wherein the circuit card includes circuitry that provides current-limitprotection for the disk drive.
 22. The electronics enclosure of claim18, wherein the circuit card includes circuitry that provides logicsignal conditioning.
 23. The electronics enclosure of claim 18, whereinthe circuit card is a flex circuit.
 24. The electrical connectorassembly electronics enclosure of claim 18, wherein the plug andreceptacle connector portions are SCA-2 standard compliant SCA (singleconnector attachment) connectors.
 25. The electronics enclosure of claim18, wherein one of the electrical contacts of the plug connector portionis in electrical communication with one of the electrical contacts ofthe receptacle connector portion over an electrical signal path thatincludes the electrical conductor and passes through the circuit card.26. The electronics enclosure of claim 25, wherein the electrical signalpath carries a 12-volt power supply signal and the circuit card includescircuitry for converting the 12-volt power supply signal into a 5-voltpower supply signal used by the disk drive for operation.
 27. Theelectronics enclosure of claim 18, further comprising means for holdingthe circuit board card adjacent to the one side of the connector body.28. The electronics enclosure of claim 27, wherein the means for holdingincludes a holder body and posts extending perpendicularly from one sideof the holder body, each post having a notch for holding an edge of thecircuit card.